Dejan Kulusevski sends 'best position' message after starring role in Man Utd thrashing

Through the fallout from Manchester United’s and Erik ten Hag’s humiliation, it was not as easy as it should have been to pick out one of THE individual performances of the Premier League season so far.

The Bruno Fernandes red card, the startling assist from Mickey van de Ven, more goals from Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke, more ranting from Gary Neville … there was a lot to camouflage a truly wonderful individual display at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Dejan Kulusevski not only scored with a cutely improvised finish, he created NINE chances against United and did his fair share of defensive work. Almost operating as a twin number eight with James Maddison, Kulusevski looked as though he had grown into the role remarkably quickly.

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And now he has landed there, the 24-year-old Swede clearly thinks that is where he belongs, declaring: “This is my position. I grew a lot because now I can defend. Before, maybe, I didn't defend as much and that was why I didn't play in the midfield. But now, I'm growing as a player and I can play to my strengths.

“I'm the best in the middle, I can score goals, I can find good passes and I play with (James) Maddison, who is unbelievable with the ball. We have (Rodrigo) Bentancur who, when he plays like he did against United, is an unbelievable player. It looks offensive on paper but it’s working really well.”

And while the victory over United was a fourth win on the spin for Spurs, Kulusevski believes it represented a marker being thrown down, explaining: “That’s how we need to play. Our season started now. There are a lot of happy players and it’s showing on the pitch. It was not just the result but playing like we did. Our pressure in the first half was unbelievable. They couldn't get the ball. We won it every time. We won 3-0 but if we were clinical, we would win by more.”

Among the many eye-catching Spurs contributions was the performance of Brennan Johnson, scoring in a fourth successive game. And Kulusevski had special words for the 23-year-old, saying: “He has been unbelievable. It is a good thing he is off social media.

“He can focus on the right things, to play football. He's been doing really good. He’s a really good guy, a young guy, and we need him. We need him to perform like this every game, and we're here to support it. I think so much can weigh down on you as a player, because millions of people have opinions on you every day.

“But the important thing is to don't listen to nobody, and just to be with your family and trust in yourself and work hard, then nothing can stop you. Sometimes you're questioning everything, but you just have to forget and remember why you started and remember who you are and where you want to go. That's what I'm doing right now.”

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